GRAND RAPIDS – Not everybody is happy with new rules issued by the State Supreme Court designed to allow juries to play a more participatory role in trials.

Under new rules announced Wednesday, judges could allow juries to submit questions for witnesses, require judges to solicit questions regarding final jury instructions and the laws applied, and allow jurors to begin discussing civil cases prior to final deliberations.

Previously, juries could only discuss the case after all evidence and final jury instructions had been finished.

“Allowing the jury to start discussing the case before they've heard all the evidence presents a problem,” said Sarah Howard, an attorney and spokesperson for Warner, Norcross and Judd. “The prosecution already gets to go first and frame the issues.”

Howard said the defendant would be at a disadvantage because the juries would start forming and hardening opinions before it has had a chance to hear all the arguments.

She said it will be harder ro make determinations of what influences the jury with the new rules and says asking juries to wait to deliberate is no more patronizing or artificial than deciding what evidence a jury is allowed to hear in a particular case.

The new rules, most of which apply to both criminal and civil cases, mark a change in the conduct of the courts which treat jurors as adults making complicated decisions, said Chief Justice Robert Young, Jr.

“When is the last time you had to make a major decision and you couldn't discuss it and deliberate as you gathered facts?” Young said.

Young said the judge still has the discretion to decide how to apply the rules and many courts already implemented parts of the rule list.

Hathaway also pointed out that many members of state bar associations oppose the new rules.

“The new rules include controversial procedures such as using deposition summaries in lieu of testimony, interim jury deliberations, and interim commentary by attorneys,” Hathaway wrote. “Although some of these procedures may in theory benefit jurors, we must be mindful that the litigants’ rights are always paramount, and we should not adopt procedures that potentially endanger these rights.”

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Paul Sullivan said locally the rules will not present a big change. Many courts in Kent County already allow for questions. He said the biggest change probable comes in allowing the deliberations early.

“I don't have a particular problem with it,” said Sullivan. “From a procedural standpoint, most jurors are already deliberating the facts they hear throughout a trial.”

Sullivan said the legal profession is adverse to change, but he believes these are common sense rules that could improve the process.

The State Supreme Court will look at the new rules again in 2014 and may decide to add or eliminate rules based on what is discovered at that point.